How to Supervise Former Peers

Even though I have been a supervisor for a while now I still deal with many of the issues that are stated the article. One issue I really struggled with initially was how to establish the supervisor/employee relationship with my friends. Eric and I were friends outside of work and we had to work at creating that relationship when I became a supervisor. I don't think he intentionally tried to take advantage of me but because of his personality I had to really push that I was in charge and not just someone to talk to at the desk. I believe that it is possible to still be friends with those people. I don't think because one person was promoted is a reason to end the friendship but it does require some work.
Knowledge is one of the areas addressed in the article. I try to take a "learn something everyday" approach to supervising. I don't think because I have this position, that I know it all. I think it is wise to try to learn something new everyday about the position and I am excited to do so. I think always broadening your knowledge makes you a better supervisor. And if your workers see you always pushing yourself they will be encouraged to do the same.
I think it is so exciting that we have three new supervisors. I look forward to helping them establish their management style. I may have "seniority" on them but i think the student supervisors should work as a team. We all have the same goal, and I am excited to work with them to get that goal achieved.

Management

I think the best way to manage is with a team perspective. I try to keep in mind that in order to be successful everyone in that team must pull their load. There are things that the student workers can handle without me and then things that they can't. When one part of the team is lagging it affects the other parts of the team. I try not to lord over my student workers, but i think there is a fine line between being their supervisor and acting like one of their peers. Sometimes certain personalities don't deal well when that line is not clear.Some may try to take advantage of the situation while others are unsure if they can trust your ability to keep things running smoothly. I think that there is a great responsibility when you are in a management position. That responsibility must be taken seriously but not to an extreme where you seem like a dictator. I want my student workers to feel like they can approach me if a situation arises. I don't want then to feel like I am not on their level. But i also expect them to respect me and take what I say seriously when it comes to work. I think trust is a huge part of leadership.

Project Gutenburg

Project Gutenburg is an online resource to free ebooks. Project Gutenburg is an online resource with over 36,000 free ebooks that can be downloaded to kindles, androids, and other devices. You do not have to register which is really handy. They run on a volunteer basis and they guarantee that each book has been proof read and does not contain viruses or glitches. There are tons of books on here. There are many ways to search including by author, by subject, or by keywords. If you don't really know what you want you can view the top 100 list and see what is downloaded most. One thing I thought was really neat was the bookmarking option. Users can read books online and save their spot for when they return. You do have to create an account to enjoy this option though. One drawback is that most of the books are really old. There aren't any current releases on the database. Also some of their collections are lacking, like the children's section to be specific. I also had a little trouble with the keyword search option. You have to be very specific to get the database to return what you want. All in all its a really neat database and its especially awesome that its free!!!

Side note- The founder of the database just passed away a few weeks ago... sad :(

Music Index

I looked at the ebsco product, Music index, today. It is exactly what it says it is, and index for all things music. I did a search on Lady Gaga :) and returned almost 1000 sources. The database is a collection of magazine articles, interviews, books, and occasionally a music clip. There are all the usual tools that ebsco products provide, including a listening option where users can have the articles read to them in different accents and reading speeds, which I thought was entertaining at least. I found some really interesting articles on this database. I found some reviews of songs by different artists and critiques as well as some interviews with the artist where they interpret the meaning of their songs...I enjoyed that. All in all this is a good database. I think ebsco products are not very appealing to the eye, which this is not, but it is a great source of information....just not too exciting.

ImageQuest

I am doing my presentation over imagequest so I thought it might be helpful to jot a few notes about it down here. First of all this database is very very simple. It really is just a conglomeration of pictures where the rights have been cleared to use for educational purposes. It is also very user friendly. The search is very straightforward, not the least bit complicated. When you search something, like barn for instance, little thumbnails of the photos are returned. You can click on the picture and it will bring up the larger photograph. There is a little background information to the right of most photos and a citation can be found in the bottom right hand corner of each page. Users can also chose which citation style they prefer.Users can also start a lightbox, which is basically just a folder where you can store all the pictures you may be interested in using. One draw back of the light box is that is does not allow you to save your photos for future use if you were to leave the database you lightbox will empty as well. This has it up side also, because users are not required to make an account to utilize the lightbox. Personally I think i will get a lot of use out of this database. I think it it a really great resource for education majors and teachers and would be great to use for making bulletin boards or presenting in the classroom.

First Research Database

Today I looked at the First Research database. It is a business database where users can find out just about anything they want to know about a certian busniess or industry. The database also has business statistics for countries, cities and states. Users can view a cities unemployment rate or growth and development rate. It gives information based on the national average. I did a search on the Cruise Ship Industry. I found information like the annual revenue of the cruise ship industry. I also found out that ticket sales account for about 75% of annual revenue. I also found out about the industries demographic. Most passengers are 50 and above and are ranked in the upperclass. The articles goes on to give regional and international information as well as recent developments on the industry and much more. At the side of the article the industry information is broken into chapters. Users can view the industry trends, all the financial information, and industry forcasting. I think this website is very useful and could be really beneficial to anyone that is a busniess major or just looking for business information.

Film and Television Literature Index

Today i looked at the Ebsco Database, Film and Literature Index. This database is full of all kinds of literature pertaining to anything film or television related. It is an ebsco product so just like all the rest the sight offers a folder system as welll as citations and other tools. One thing this database offers that is a little different is film reviews. There is a huge collection of films that users can read reviews on. When i was searching I kind of just expected reviews on shows and a basic overview of what they are about who wrote them and so on. I was pleasently suprised to find way more than that. I typed Beauty and the Beast into the seach bar and was returned 215 articles. Some of them contained just general information about the Film but there were others that were about feminism and issues of equality that were suggested in the film. I read through a few of these and they were really intersting. I think a lot of them would be very good essay topics. This is a feature in all ebsco databases but i really like how users can go to certain sections in the work by clicking on the links on the side bar. this could be really helpful when needing direct quotes or specific information. Like other databases there is a refine searhc option where patrons can limit year, author, subject and much more. One more cool thing i found is that full texts can now be translated into 30 different languages. This doesn't really effect the patrons a whole lot but organizations like us can change the way the database looks to our users by visiting the supoprt site. We could change the colors or the layout to make it more personalized. I think this is a good database. It wasn't too exciting but I did find a lot of interesting material.

Regional Business News

Today I looked at the ebsco database, Regional Business News. This database is an Ebsco product so of course it is clean and easy to use. I like that the pages are not fussy and it is simple to find the exact information you are looking for. I did a few searches just to see exactly what kind of information would be returned as to get a better feel for the databse. I first searched Weatherford, OK. There was an article returned about the PSO Windmills. The article gave information like energy production, acerage, and legal ascpects for the windmills. I also did a search on SWOSU. Article about new degree programs and contracts with other universities were returned. The articles are set up a lot like a news paper would be, the information presented in the articles is that way too. Just about anything you might see in a daily newspaper was included in the articles. The database now offers a downloadable MP3 option. Users can now listen to the article as the read along. The database offers many tools like citations, print options and exporting, along with a folder system to save useful articles. One thing I discovered is that most articles automatically open into the HTML full text viewing option. I clicked over to the pdf and discovered that the full text option just doesn't give readers the same experience. Many illustrations are left out the may be useful to the user. All in all this is a great database. It seems to hold a very large amount of information and be very user friendly....its just not very exciting...

Films on Demand

Today I looked at the Films on Demand Database. This database provides Educational Videos on a huge variety of topics. The films are intended to be used by educators to broaden their students horizons. Films are categorized into five different subject headings- Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Science & Mathematics, Health & Medicine, and Archival Films & News Reels. Users can also click on a Most Viewed link and watch videos that are very popular. There is a most recent video link that shows videos that have been recently added to the database. Like other databases this one also has a Search Bar. Users can search by segment or by title, and there is an advanced search option that allows users to narrow down their searches by adding limiters. I chose to view videos by subject. I clicked on the Humanities & Social Sciences Heading and was directed to a screen that had a list of subheadings and even sub sub headings. Users can browse through the different topics and choose a video that most fits their need. I chose the education subheading and the Curriculum and Lessons sub sub heading. 84 Videos were returned to me. They are all arranged nicely. I didn't feel to overwhelmed by the results. Videos are all lined up with a Time indicator as well as a short summary of the video. Once I decided on a video I wanted to watch I clicked on the link. The video opens and next to it is a segment summary. The video is broken up into segments each with a small summary and a link that will take you right to that spot in the video. There is also a related video link that will take users to videos that relate to their topic. The database has a folder system that they call a play list. Users can create an account and then save videos that they have found important or useful. The database also offers an embed code so that users can post videos on other web pages or send them to colleagues. There is a citation button at the bottom of the page. The database sites the video in two different styles. One add on i thought was really neat was the standards link. Users can choose a state and see which educational standards the video covers. Oklahoma works on a pass skills program and the video lists what skills for which grades are discussed or covered in the video. I think this database is really neat. I have seen a few video databases that just didn't seem very thorough. This one did though. They have tons of content that cover a very wide variety of topics.

Pop Culture Universe

Today I looked at the pop culture universe database. This database has ALL kinds of information about anything Pop Culture. On the home page there are links to articles about the black sox scandal, the 1970's and even Kurt Cobain. Users can view articles that are divided into decades. I chose the 2000's to view. The page opens up to an introduction about the decade. Then on the left hand side there are more in depth articles having to do with media, fashion, and politics of the decade. 2000 has a youtube, facebook, and twitter section. I clicked on youtube and found articles about popular comedy videos that have been posted within the last ten years. There is also a facts a figure section where users can view articles about discoveries and inventions that happened in the 2000's. Users can also look at product reviews and business reports of the decade. Besides the decade option users can also read idea exchange topics. One topic I saw was "Is the Book Dying". These articles are posted to get people thinking and responding. Controversial topics are covered like Celebrities and their Responsibility as role models, and "Are video games art?" The Articles are written by selected authors and then reviewed by an advisory board. Users can leave their two cents on the topics too. I think this is an excellent jumping off point for a pros and cons essay paper. It would almost give students the ability to run a survey, without actually taking a survey. Many different opinions are presented which would be a great way to become familiar and well informed about an essay topic. there is also an advanced search option where you can pick and choose what you want to view. Selections start in the most general. users can pick what format they want the information in, like articles, facts and figures, documents, or time lines. Then they can choose a decade, then certain aspects of that decade like transportation and so on until you find an article or piece of information that is exactly what you are looking for. I think this database is really fun. I think it could be really helpful for comp II students needing help getting started on an essay.

Biointeractive

Today I looked at the Biointeractive Database. This database is a collection of information over 14 scientific topics. There are videos, animations, interactive activities, printable articles and more over each topic. Some of the topics include Infectious Disease, Biological Clocks, and Stem Cell reasearch. I looked up the Neuroscience Videos. There were probably 20 videos that covered that topic and they were all fairly short. I think this is nice because you can easily watch one video to the next without being overwhelmed by a ten minute video. The videos are done from experiments or lectures or scientific research. They are really interesting. The animation section is also really neat. Its kind of like afancy slide show. I watched one about the location of the hypothalamus that was only about twenty seconds that was a professor lecturing and then showing animation about where the hypothalumus is in mice. There are also click and learn Interactive pages where you can look at slides and answer questions. The coolest thing about this site is the Virtual Lab. There is an actual lab that is set up where users can go and virtually cultivate bacteria or inject flies. The lab gives you step by step procedures to follow and tells you why and what is happening in each step. I think this would be really great for elementary and middle school age students. It would give them an idea of what happens in real scientific labs. I thought it was pretty interesting. This database is really fun and it seems really high tech and fancy which just adds to its fun-ness.

Counseling and Therapy in Video

Today I looked at the Counseling and Therapy in Video Database. This database is a collection of videos that cover social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and counseling. There are 353 videos currently included in the database. Users can look at actual counseling sessions, lectures, demonstrations, and more. The videos are collected from universities, renowned scholars, and other psychological associations. I did a search on the site for counseling sessions, specifically sessions dealing with marriage. 186 videos were returned to me. I like how they are displayed because you get the title and link to the video as well as sections of the transcript that have your keyword, in this case marriage, in them. This allows users to quickly see if the video has content they may be interested in. Once a user finds a video they want to watch they can also follow along with the dialogue by the transcript that is printed beside the video. There is a sign in option that works like a folder system. Users can also get a link to the video to share with other people or they can make clips of the video. This is allows them to cut parts of the video that may not be relevant to what they need. I think this could be really useful for students. I had to do a speech that included a video. If I could have clipped the video just leaving the parts i needed for my speech it would have been really handy. I think this database is pretty cool. I could see it maybe being a little small and not having exactly what a user might need, and some of the videos are very dated, but other than that it is good.

American Chemical Society

Today I looked at the American Chemical Society Database. The database is a collection of cited and peer reviewed journals that have to do with chemical and other related sciences. The American Chemical Society publishes more than 35 journals that are made available through this database. Some topics covered by the journals are agriculture, nanoscience, toxicology, energy and fuels, and many more. Operating the database is fairly simple. There is a search bar in the top right hand corner where users can type in a topic, citation, or digital object identifier (a number assigned to electronic documents that does not change for the life of the document). I typed in Nanoscience. 5323 sources were returned to me. 81 of the were from chapters in actual books, the rest were articles made available by the database. There is a sidebar where users can limit there search by choosing different publications that offer information on the topic, or author, or publication date, or manuscript type. Once I found an article I wanted to read I hit the full text option and the article was brought up. There are many extra options on the article page. Users can make a permalink to the article, email to a colleague, order prints, and many other things. There is also a folder system that patrons can utilize by adding the document to "favorites". At the bottom of an article page the database includes reference citations used by the author. This could really come in handy for some one writing a research paper needing more than one source. The article page also had a history section that gives background information on the article such as publication date, author, and the journal the article was written for. There are links to similar articles and a list of publications written by that specific author on the page as well. I like this database because it is clean and easy to use. I may not know the terminology but it provides an easy and effective way for me to find out.

SPORTdiscuss

Today i review the ebsco host product, Sportdiscuss. It is like every other ebsco database as far as the set up goes, and the content is well...sports. :) I did a search on volleyball and it returned over 13000 entries so I would definitely recommend that patrons narrow their searches down when using this database. There is A LOT of content. Users can search in the opening search bar or do an advanced search that will limit by language, peer review, publisher, and much more. On the side bar patrons can select articles held by swosu and limit the year as well as subtopics. One new thing I did notice is the search history bar at the top of the page. Users can here view all of their previous searches and even combine them with Booleans to make their search more efficient. I think this is a really great little tool. Users can not only keep track of all their searches for future use but the combination option is really great, especially if a user isn't really sure what they are looking for. There is a folder system where patrons can save articles as well and a print, email, and export option. Ebsco is always very thorough and this database is no exception.